For the first time in my life I find myself in a position where I want to set some goals for the new year. I’m deliberately not calling these ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ because I am dead set against that whole concept. But, that doesn’t mean that I cannot aim for ‘something’ in the new year, right?

To be transparent, I started goal-setting at the beginning of this year already. In 2012 I read a lot of stories (short, novella and novel-length), and in January 2013 I took up the Goodreads Reading Challenge – with an aim to read seventy-five books during 2013. Not to brag, but I smashed that. And yes, it’s a good feeling to have achieved my goal – and surpassed it.

So, on to the goals for 2014.

Read seventy-five stories (short, novella or novel). I am not going to increase this goal as this is a manageable quantity for me – if this last year has been anything to go by.

Finish reading through the NT and begin to study it. I am currently almost 3/4 of the way through reading the NT using a reading plan. I plan to return to the gospels and look at a few more passages in them in greater depth, and then study the rest of the NT.

Do some reading each week for education or career reasons. Most of the reading I do is in some way educational for me. If it is fiction, then I am learning how to write better. If it is non-fiction, then I am usually learning something. I do, however, need to focus on my chosen career – editing and proofreading. I have materials to study, and I need to begin to do so.

Spend less time on Facebook. I have a toddler, and I do try to NOT be on the computer all the time while she is awake. I don’t always succeed, but there you go. I’m not trying to eliminate Facebook at all, but if I can be away from it for longer periods of time as opposed to checking in every few minutes, I can only be mentally healthier. I’m pin-pointing Facebook as opposed to other websites because Facebook is the most detrimental for me.

Have some down time each day. By this I mean no contact with the outside world; books, internet, TV, phone… Having a toddler, I achieve this most days, but some days it is difficult.

There you go. Five goals for 2014. And please – any of you who read this are welcome to pop a note to me and check up on how I’m doing. I believe they are all achievable, although some are going to be a real challenge for me. I hope I’ll remember this post come the end of the year and then I can evaluate how the year has gone.

Advertisements

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About Laurel C Kriegler

A born and bred South African, I was educated at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, where I graduated with an Honours Degree (post-graduate) in Economics at the end of 2001. After spending several years gaining work experience in the UK, I returned to South Africa to get married. It was during the ensuing period that my pursuits of writing and editing took hold.

Reasonable goals. I am challenging myself to be more disciplined and to get better at cultivating friendships. Neither of these things are particularly measurable, though. But since I’ve never been very good at meeting measurable goals, I feel like I can live with the ambiguity. 🙂